Virbank Gym Inspection
by Grumpydrawer
Summary: Roxie reminisces before a 'suprise' inspection of the Virbank Gym...by someone Roxie wasn't expecting.


**So this is just something I wrote back in August of 2014. I originally planned for it to be a full on fanfic, but I ran out of ideas and forgot about it until recently. So instead of letting it rot (so to speak) on my hardrive I tweaked the ending slightly and posted it here as a One-Shot.**

 **So hopefully at least someone get's some enjoyment out of this. Or at the very least there's another Roxie fanfic now lol. She rocks! Well bar the music in her gym in the game, the music did not go with her being in a 'punk' like band at all.**

 **Anyway on to the story!**

* * *

"So Roxie's come up with a new song." said Billy Jo as she entered the Virbank Gym entrance with Nicky.

"Rock on. I've been getting a little bored of practising and preforming the same stuff over and over again." said Nicky as they went down the well wore stairs which led to the underground Gym.

"What's wrong with the current songs?" asked Billy Jo a little defensively as they walked past one of the many pieces of graffiti which adorned the walls of the entrance stairway, this particular piece of graffiti depicted a Koffing and a black and purple guitar. It had been drawn by Roxie shortly after the Gym had opened.

"Nothing I'm just a bit sick of songs about Koffing." answered Nicky quickly, obviously trying to backtrack.

"And so what? The band's called Koffing and the Toxics for a reason." said Billy Jo in minor annoyance. She was still a bit pissed off from when she discovered that her shower had clogged earlier in the morning. She then sighed. "Although I'll admit the current songs are getting a bit boring, just don't mention it to Roxie." Nicky looked like he was about to respond when Billy Jo pushed open the door to the Gym mixed with a music club, revealing a site neither the drummer nor the guitarist ever thought they would ever see.

In the middle of the Gym floor was Roxie, furiously scrubbing at the floor with a mop.

"Woah when'd you get into cleaning Roxie?" asked Nicky while Billy Jo merely glanced around the Gym. The floor was the cleanest she'd seen it since the day the Gym opened. The marks from spilt drinks and trash which usually covered the floor were gone.

"Gym…Inspection…tonight." said Roxie in-between pants as she scrubbed the floor. "Lose…Gym…Leader…status…if…fail." That explained why Roxie was moping so furiously, being a Gym Leader was almost as important to Roxie as their band, and that was pretty important. A thought then stuck the black haired guitarist; Gym Inspections in Unova were usually done without warning. So how'd Roxie know one was happening here tonight?

"How'd you know that an inspection is happening tonight?" asked Billy Jo as the two musicians entered the Gym.

"Skyla…called…early…this…morning. She…just…had a…surprise…inspection…at her…Gym. Wanted…to inform…me that…the…inspectors…are coming…here…next." said Roxie in between pants, before she collapsed in exhaustion. Luckily she was caught by Nicky, who'd rushed over to her, just before she hit the floor. As Billy Jo walked over to two tow bandmates she noticed that Roxie's eyes were betraying signs of tiredness, the younger girl was barely keeping her eyes open.

"Woah your eyes are bloodshot Roxie." said Nicky as he steadied her as she stood up. "How long have you been up?"

"I've been here since three thirty." said Roixe with a yawn (It was now 8:30). "Had to get the Gym cleared up before the inspection." The white haired Gym Leader then took one step before collapsing into Nicky's arms again. Fatigue was clearly taking its toll on their leader.

"You need to get some rest Roxie." said Billy Jo as she took the younger girl from Nicky's arms. "You'll burn yourself out otherwise."

"Can't, I need to cleaned up the Gym before tonight." protested Roxie tiredly. Billy Jo could understand why her friend was so persistent about getting the Gym cleared up. The Unova Pokémon League Inspectors were pretty strict from what she had heard, and Virbank Gym definitely broke a couple regulations. Sure most gyms broke one of two regulations and the association let them slide but this gym broke a more than one or two, and it broke some of the more strictly enforced ones.

For one it was used as a place for concerts, which the association let slide due to the fact that they sent them some of the ticket revenue from the concerts. It was a little known fact in Unova that Gym guidelines didn't allow the Leaders to rent out or use their Gyms for commercial use. Of course it was barely known because it was widely ignored by both the Unova Pokémon League Inspectors and Gym Leader's alike.

Two they had raves in the Gym. Of course that was on more of a need to know basis, only their fans and a few close friends knew about them. Which was a good thing, the association definitely did not approve of Gyms being used for raves.

Three there was alcohol in the Gym. Which the association would definitely revoke a Gym Leader's status if they ever found that out. Especially since they occasionally sold it instead of sodas at the bar during concerts and raves and that each of them were under Unova's drinking age.

Four the place was usually a tip. Floors covered in trash and drink stains. Of course those had been cleaned up now so they were nothing to worry about.

"How about we do some cleaning up while you rest." suggested Nicky as he glanced around the room.

"You guys would do that for me?" asked Roxie, tiredness clearly in her voice.

"Of course we would. You're our friend Roxie, and besides we don't want to go back to practising n that abandoned warehouse again." answered Billy Jo. Roxie was like a little sister to her, not that she would ever tell the poison gym leader that, of course she was going to help her out.

"Course we'll help." said Nicky as he cracked his knuckles while Billy Jo helped Roxie over to a couch which was near the DJ stand. "So where should we start?"

"How about you find a place to hide the alcohol." said Billy Jo as Roxie laid down on the couch. "They'll find it easy enough if they search the bar."

"Right on." said Nicky as he walked over to the bar.

The black haired guitarist looked around the room, there wasn't much left that they could clear up. The only things left to clear up were some loose cables on the stage and a speaker Roixe had broken a couple weeks ago while training her Garbodor, she hadn't had to use it in a Gym battle since that kid with the Pikachu challenged them. "Hey Nicky help me with the broken speaker when you've finished hiding the alcohol." said Billy Jo as she walked over to the broken speaker.

"Ok….and done." said Nicky as he shoved two cases of beers and several Vodka bottles underneath the raised DJ stand, leaving only the fabric which draped down from the stand as the only obstacle in the way of finding the alcohol.

"That's it?" said Billy Jo blankly as the bald drummer walked over to her.

"Yeah that's it. They're not exactly gonna have sniffer Pokémon. The inspectors are uptight people, not the police." said Nicky with a shrug. He then grabbed on end of the speaker and prepared to lift it up. "Look I doubt they'll examine every bloody inch of the Gym. They merely glance over it then ask the leader some questions, ok."

"Yeah ok." said Billy Jo as she helped the drummer lift the speaker up. "Just don't want Roixe to lose her Gym because of us."

"She won't lose it. She passed the last inspection." said Nicky as they carried the speaker towards the exit of the gym.

"Yeah and that was only a week after the Gym opened." said Billy Jo in annoyance as the roughneck pushed open the door to the stairway.

"Oh." said Nicky, looking a little embarrassed as they began carrying the speaker up the stairs. "Listen if you're so worried I'll bring the beers and Vodka back to my place."

"I'm not worried, just leave it there." said Billy Jo as they passed one of the posters which littered the stairwell walls alongside the graffiti. It was a poster advertising a concert when they were just starting out, just a plain back background and purple text. Nothing like their modern poster which commonly depicted the whole band, or in some cases just Roxie, alongside Roxie's Koffing. "But if they find it you're gonna get the crap beat out of you by Roxie."

"And that's why I'm confident it won't be found, violence from Roxie is a good enough incentive to not screw up." said Nicky as they near the top of the stairwell. "Remember what she did to that ticket salesman who was overcharging for our concert and stealing the excess charges?"

"Yeah it was amusing." said Billy Jo with a chuckle at the memory of Roxie hitting the sleazy ticket salesman with her guitar. "He deserved it. How many broken bones was it?"

"Thirteen I think. I'm still amazed Roxie got away with it." said Nicky as they exited the stairwell and entered on of Virbank City's many grey streets, nobody insight but a few roughnecks and punks hanging out outside the nearby cafe. "Guess the police couldn't resist that grin of her's. So where are we taking this exactly?"

"To my truck, then we'll take it down to that old factory." said the black haired guitarist as they carried the speaker down the road towards her white pickup truck. The thing was a piece of shit but so was everything else at the Virbank dealership. They got sent the vehicles which wouldn't sell in Castelia City, so just pickup trucks, vans and really shitty cars.

"The abandoned one where everyone dumps their junk?" asked Nicky as he nodded in acknowledgement at the punks on the other side of the road, who nodded back at him.

"That's the one." said Billy Jo as the finally reached her pickup truck. The two of them dumped the speaker in the back as a police car shot buy, sirens blazing. Neither them nor the punks took any notice, such a seen was common in the industrial port city. "After this we'll head back and clear up the cables, Roxie should be awake by then."

The roughneck and guitarist arrived back at the Gym three hours later. Some dumbass damaged a bridge during a Pokémon battle, resulting in the two rockers shaving to take a long detour to the abandoned factory. Nicky didn't see why they had bothered taking the detour. They could have just dumped the speaker in an alley and been done with it, but no Billy Jo had to take it all the way to the bloody abandoned building. That woman was so infuriating at times.

He pushed open the door of the Gym to find Roxie up and about, strumming a tune on her guitar up on the stage. The cables which weren't in use were nowhere to be seen, presumably Roxie had dumped them in the storage room off the right hand side of the stage. When she saw them she jumped down from the stage to greet them, all smiles.

"You're back! Thanks for dealing with the speaker." said Roxie happily with a grin on her face. A puzzled look then appeared on her face. "Where'd you hide the beers?"

"Out of sight." said Nicky with a grin.

"Yeah but where?" protested Roxie, obviously annoyed at being left out of the loop.

"Doesn't matter. You're too young to drink." teased Billy Jo, causing their younger leader to glare at her.

"So's Nicky!" protested Roxie, pointing in his direction.

"By a few months. Yeah but And besides he doesn't get drunk half as much as you do." said Billy Jo, smirking at the glare Roxie shot her.

"We're just teasing ya Roxie." said Nicky with a chuckle. "It's under the DJ stand."

"Anyways, it's nearly lunch." said Billy Jo, trying to divert their leader's attention away from where they hid the alcohol. "Where do you guys want to go?"

"Let's go to the pizza place down the alley." suggested Roxie. Nicky merely nodded in agreement, he always went along with whatever either of the two girls choose, not wanting to piss either off. Which was easier than you'd think it would be.

The pizza place in question was a small shop which had clearly seen better days. The sign saying Pizzeria was hanging on only by one remaining screw and as such was on its side, making it harder to read. There was a cover above the door which had one been red, but was now coloured green from grime and pollution. The alley itself wasn't much better, being covered in graffiti and rubbish dropped by the Pizzeria's customers.

As the trio entered the Pizzeria there were calls of acknowledgement and welcome from people eating there, mostly punks and roughnecks, which Roixe returned in the form of slightly goofy waves. Billy Jo couldn't help but smile slightly at the regular scene; it was hard not to like Roxie. She was always happy and cheerful, a nice thing to see in the polluted industrial port that was Virbank City. Even if people didn't like her music they stilled liked how carefree and goofy she was, surprising people who saw her for the first time. You wouldn't assume the lead singer of a punk band would be so goofy and friendly.

The inside of the Pizzeria was nicer than the outside, just. The floor was covered with black and white tiles, stains from food and drinks everywhere. There were several tables which had clearly seen better days but were still holding up well. Instead of chairs there were couches at the tables, all a different colour. All the walls were painted a dull brown and had the occasional poster on them.

"Will it be the usual?" asked the owner as they approached the counter. The man was in his late forties and was wearing a chief's uniform covered in stains from food. He had a large cut running down one of his arms and a tattoo of a Serviper on the other. Neither of the rockers knew much about him but they had once come to the conclusion that he had been a biker at some point, just an air he gave off.

"Yeah it will be Mick." answered Roxie.

"Right. Take a seat wherever you want." said Mick as he turned around and headed into the kitchen of the Pizzeria. The drummer and guitarist then followed the Gym Leader as she headed over to a table in the far corner with a purple couch either side of it, each a different shade. Roxie lied down on one couch leaving Billy Jo to share the other with Nicky.

"So what questions do they ask during the inspection?" asked Nicky, breaking the silence between the three of them.

"Boring stuff." said Roxie with disinterest. "Things like amount of badges given out, amount of wins, losses and draws."

"I thought you said on the way here that you haven't had a proper inspection before." stated Billy Jo.

"Burgh told me about it once." said Roxie as she stretched her arms over her head.

"So the answers will be too many to count, around twenty and none." said Nicky causing Roxie to grin at the too many to count comment.

"Pretty much." said Roxie as she sat up. "You get asked about if you use any special tactics. Like how we all play our instruments at times during the battle and how you two stir the crowd up to distract the challenger."

"That's it?" asked Billy Jo, slightly surprised at how simple it sounded.

"Well Burgh said they may ask you if any notable trainers battled you." said Roxie as she laid back on the couch. "None really come to mind."

"What about Nate. The kid with that rocking Pignite." suggested Nicky. The black haired guitarist wasn't that surprised at the suggestion, Nicky had taken a liking to Nate when he had battled Roxie.

"Oh yeah Nate!" said Roixe enthusiastically. "He was so tight with that Pignite."

"Wonder how he's doing?" said Nicky. Roxie shrugged in response.

"No clue last I heard about him was when he beat Skyla." said Roixe as she laid back down again. "And that was ages ago."

"You mean six months ago." said Billy Jo. Roxie merely scowled in response.

"Yeah, yeah same thing." said Roxie dismissively as she crossed her legs. "Wonder how he's doing."

"Could of beaten the league by now." suggested Nicky.

"Maybe." said Billy Jo impassively, not that bothered about who the Pokémon League champion could be. The guitarist then remembered something else which had happened when Nate had been in Virbank City. "Wonder if he'll come back to go on another date with you Roxie." She could barely suppress her laugh at the red tint and embarrassed look on their lead singers face.

"It wasn't a date!" protested Roxie as she quickly sat up to face them, scowl on her face.

"Sure it wasn't." said Nicky with a smirk.

"It wasn't! He was just making it up to me for breaking those speakers!" countered Roxie.

"Sure taking you out to dinner and going to the park for several hours wasn't a date." said Nicky sarcastically.

"Wonder if they kissed Nicky." teased Billy Jo, causing the drummer to laugh and the white haired guitarist's cheeks to go even redder.

"Wonder if they kissed Nicky." teased Billy Jo. Roixe could feel her face heating up as the bald drummer laughed at the black haired guitarist's comment.

"Might have." said Nicky, who looked like he was about to say something else before Roxie interupted him.

"We didn't! And even if we did it isn't your damn business!" said Roxie in a mixture of embarrassment and anger, quickly realising that was the wrong thing to say. While her two best friends and bandmates began to joke about her and Nate she thought back to her and Nate's date…day out, their day out had been.

 _Roixe was sitting on the edge of the stage with her Koffing hovering next to her. On her lap was the Gym record book, where they had to record the result of all Gym battles and any damages caused during the battle. The entire Gym was empty, Billy Jo, Nicky and the fans having left earlier in the day._

" _Koffing?" said the purple ball-like Pokémon as its trainer looked at the book with a puzzled expression on her face._

" _Do you think the speaker damages could be claimed back from the association?" asked Roxie as she chewed the end on a pencil._

" _Koff. Koffing." said the Koffing, an equally confused expression on its usually blindly happy face._

" _Well they didn't buy it, I did. But it was damaged in the Gym." said Roxie. "Eh that's good enough for me. What do you think Koffing?"_

" _Koffing." said her Koffing happily as it shot out several clouds of gas, causing Roxie to smile._

" _Right so claims, small speaker. Value…urmmm…eight thousand Poke." said Roxie as she wrote the claim in the book. "Damage caused by a Pignite's flamethrower attack." The Gym Leader then jumped up, startling the Poison-Type Pokémon. Just as she was about to go back stage and email the association via the Gym computer she heard the sound of the Gym doors opening._

 _The white haired guitarist immediately span around. Entering the Gym was the kid who challenged her earlier, the one with the Pignite and the bushy brown hair. What was his name, Nick? Nat? While she was thinking her Koffing immediately hovered over to the trainer, letting out clouds of gas at seeing him again._

" _Hey Koffing." greeted the trainer, the Poison-Type smiling dimly in response._

" _So what brought you back to my domain challenger." said Roxie as she hopped off the stage and walked over to him._

" _Well I felt kinda guilty about Pignite incinerating your speaker." said the trainer as he ran his hand through his brown hair. "Wondered if I could make it up to you in some way."_

" _Nah it's cool, no need to do that. I was just about to contact the association about getting them to claim on the damages." said Roxie, surprised that a challenger even cared about the damage he had done in the Gym._

" _You sure, that speaker must have cost a bit." said the trainer guiltily as he glanced over in the direction of the speaker. "I could pay for a lunch or something similar." It was then that Roxie thought it over. Roxie then glanced over her shoulder at the smouldering remains of the speaker_ ; the _speaker being damaged wasn't really a problem. She wasn't angered by it, just a hazard of being a Gym Leader. But the trainer was offering to buy her lunch and she was hungry. The guy seemed pretty guilty about the whole thing, obviously didn't have an ulterior motive, like trying to turn it into a date. It was lucky her bandmates weren't there, all they would be implying that very thing._

" _Sure let's go for lunch." said Roxie as she returned the Koffing to its Poke Ball, before turning slightly aggressive. "But you better not think this is a date!"_

" _I wasn't!" protested the trainer, his startled expression showing that the thought obviously hadn't crossed his mind._

" _Good." said Roxie as she began walking out the Gym. "What's your name anyway?"_

" _Nate." said the trainer, hurrying after her._

" _Cool." said Roxie as she walked up the stairwell. "So where are you taking me?"_

" _To a diner near the Poke Centre, it has really good food." said Nate somewhat nervous as he followed her up the stairs. The two of them then exited the gym and stepped into the empty Virbank City backstreet._

" _Well lead the way then." said Roxie, happy to have an excuse not to do Gym paperwork and get a free lunch while at it._

 _After a couple minutes they had arrived at the diner and been seated near a window at the far end of the building, one either side of the table. Roxie was slightly tempted to order something expensive but decided against her mischievous nature's suggestion, obeying it would be a prick move. Instead she ordered some nuggets and fries while Nate ordered a burger of some kind. After the waiter left them an awkward silence descended upon their table, and Roxie hated silence._

" _So where are you going after Virbank?" inquired Roixe in an attempt to break the silence._

" _Castelia City." answered Nate somewhat awkwardly. "I'm going to challenge the Gym Leader there and then head up to Nimbasa City."_

" _So you're going to challenge Burgh then, that's cool." said Roxie. "He'll be easy to beat with that Pignite of your's. His bugs won't stand a chance."_

" _I guess, but I'm going to use my other Pokémon first. I'm aiming to have a well-rounded team." said Nate. "Not just one Pokémon vastly stronger to the others."_

" _First time I've heard that in a while. Most trainers who come battle me rely on one strong Pokémon, which is stupid. Makes them easier to beat." replied Roxie, impressed by the bushy haired trainer's strategy. "So I'm guessing you're aiming to be champion?"_

" _Yeah but I'll doubt I'll make it that far." said Nate sheepishly. "I'm not that good of a trainer."_

" _Course you aren't, you're just starting out. You'll improve." said Roxie, trying to encourage the trainer like Gym Leaders were meant to. "You beat me on your first try, few trainers manage that."_

" _Thanks." said Nate, obviously happy at the praise. "So how long have you been playing that bass guitar for?"_

" _Couple years, Dad bought it for me when I was younger." answered Roxie, happy to talk about her instrument. "You play any instruments?"_

" _No, I did try the guitar once but I never got the hang of it." answered Nate, seemingly interested in the course of the conversation._

" _Come back when you're the champion and I might give you lessons." joked Roxie without thinking, quickly coming up with a question to divert Nate's attention. "So do you listen to my band's music?"_

" _Not really." said Nate nervously. "Never heard any of it till I challenged you this morning."_

" _Doesn't matter, it's cool. You didn't seem like the kind of person to listen to our music anyway." said Roxie in an attempt to brush off any nervousness Nate had. Then enthusiastically she asked "What did you think of it?"_

" _Well I didn't expect to like it at first, mainly due to how I wasn't used to the noise level." said Nate, startled by her sudden enthusiasm. "But it started to grow on me throughout the battle. It was kinda cool how you mixed your music into the battle."_

" _Thanks, it's our little special tactic. Most gyms have one. For instance in my Gym the noise is meant to make it harder for the challenger to think, just an extra challenge for you guys to overcome." said Roxie, happy that the brown haired trainer found her tactic cool._

" _You mean the crowd weren't part of your tactic?" asked Nate, somewhat surprised._

" _What do you mean?" asked Roxie with a puzzled expression._

" _Well it wasn't the most friendly looking crowd." said Nate. "Quite the opposite actually." Roxie now got where he was coming from. She supposed the crowds of punks, roughnecks, goths, rockers and other similar people would be a bit intimidating to someone who wasn't the sort of person to listen to her music._

" _Never thought of that. Although come to think of it Nicky mentioned after that you seemed a bit intimidated by the crowd." said Roxie, remembering her drummer's comment._

" _Nicky…..that's the drummer right?" asked Nate._

" _Yeah that's him." said Roxie in confirmation. "And Billy Jo's the poisonous guitarist." Nate looked like he was about to reply but the waiter delivered their food before he could do so. There was light conversation as the two ate their lunch, Roxie messily eating the nuggets while Nate ate his burger much more cleanly._

 _After the two trainers finished their lunch in the diner they began to walk back towards the Virbank Gym. Roxie had originally been planning to go back by herself but decided against it because she was actually enjoying her conversation with Nate. They had talked a bit about guitars and had transitioned from that subject to her concerts. Which the Gym Leader was more than happy to talk about._

" _Koffing rocks at concerts! Everyone gets driven wild when he lets out gas!" said Roxie enthusiastically as they walked through an empty backstreet._

" _Isn't that dangerous?" asked Nate, more with curiosity than worry._

" _Nah it's cool. The gas at concerts isn't toxic enough to hurt anyone." said Roxie as the two passed a trash can. "Occasionally people pass out at concerts but it's not dangerous." The white haired Gym Leader laughed at the expression on Nate's face at hearing about people passing out at her concerts._

" _Must be pretty intense then." said Nate, obviously trying to divert the conversation from people passing out._

" _Yeah my concerts are usually, not as loud as in the Gym though when they are outside." said Roxie. "I prefer preforming in the Gym. More noise, more fans, more enclosed."_

" _You really love noise don't you." said Nate causing the rockstar to smirk at him._

" _How'd you guess?" joked Roixe, causing the two humans to laugh._

 _After a few more minutes of walking the two Pokémon trainers reached the outside of the Virbank Pokémon Gym._

" _Well that was fun." said Roxie as she partially opened the Gym entrance door, revealing the stairway behind it._

" _Yeah it was." said Nate, the nervousness and awkwardness he had when he first entered the Gym being nowhere in sight. "Made up for the speaker then."_

" _It more than made up for the speaker." said Roxie happily, she then frowned shortly after. "Seems a bit unbalanced."_

" _Don't worry about it." said Nate quickly._

" _I won't. Still I think I should at least give you something in to balance it out." said Roxie as she thought it over. The lunch and conversations were definitely worth more than the speaker to her, it was nice to talk to someone different for once. A thought then popped into her head, causing her to smirk at the brown haired trainer. "I know what I could give you to balance it out."_

" _What?" asked Nate, more in confusion than curiosity._

" _This." said Roxie as she leaned in and quickly kissed the trainer of the check. As she turned around, her face a shade of red, and headed quickly into the Gym she said. "Come see me again when you're champion!"_

"Hey Roxie." said Nicky, snapping her out of the memory.

"What!" asked Roxie aggressively, still annoyed at her two friends' teasing.

"Foods coming." was all he said as Roxie looked down the aisle. Sure enough Mick was walking down the aisle holding three plates on a tray.

"Here's ya food." said Mick when he reached them and put the plates of food down, a pizza on each plate. Nicky immediately began reaching for his wallet, here you paid before you ate the food, but Mick merely held up his hand to stop the drummer. "It's on the house. Consider it thanks for dealing with those Team Plasma thugs last week." Despite Team Plasma being defeated some members were still causing trouble around the Unova region. The week before some had tried to rob a store in Virbank City, being defeated quickly by Roixe. The remaining thugs were more an annoyance than any threat, being fairly week and few in number.

"Thanks Mick." said Roxie, happy to get the meal for free. The pizzeria owner merely nodded his head before he turned to leave.

"Hey Mick, do you know who the current Unova champion is?" asked Billy Jo, causing the man to stop and think it over.

"No, it's a guy though. Watched his match on TV, he had some pretty powerful Pokémon." answered Mick. "Sorry I can't remember his name."

"Don't worry about it." said Billy Jo before Mick walked away from their table.

"Why'd ya ask that?" asked Roxie in puzzlement.

"Just wondering if it's your crush, Nate." said Billy Jo with a smirk. Roixe merely glared at her before she dug into her pizza, ripping off a piece.

"He's not my crush." protested Roxie. "And even if he was at least I don't check him out every five seconds like you and Nicky do to each other." The gym leader then laughed at her friend's face, each having a blush on their cheeks.

"W..What!" stuttered out Nicky.

"We don't ch..check each other out." protested Billy Jo with a stutter.

"Yeah you two do." teased Roxie, happy to get back at them. She merely ate another piece of her pizza while the other guitarist and drummer did the same, each looking away from each other. Sure she had exaggerated a bit, Billy Jo and Nicky didn't check each other out every five seconds. But they definitely did it sometimes. The Gym Leader definitely believed that her friends and bandmates had feelings for each other. Not that they were going to admit it any time soon.

Later that evening on the ocean between Castelia City and Virbank City…

Pop Roxie was making the last ferry trip of the day and was happy to be doing so. He was tired out after a long day of work. Usually he would be looking forward to seeing his daughter but she had left a note in the kitchen this morning saying that she'd be home later than usual, something about the Gym. He had been getting on better with is daughter lately, thanks to him giving up on his midlife crisis goal of being a movie star.

The ferry captain then looked back at the passenger area of his boat. There were only two passengers tonight, two males in suits with briefcases. Not the sort of people you usually saw heading to Virbank City.

"So what brings you two to Virbank?" asked Pop Roxie, trying to start up a conversation.

"We're inspectors from the Unova Pokémon Association. We're doing a surprise inspection of the Virbank Gym tonight." said one of the inspectors calmly.

"Ah my daughters the Gym Leader there." said Pop Roxie with a laugh. "No doubt it will be a shock for her when you show up there."

"It certainly should be, it's the first inspection of her Gym to date." said the other inspector. "The champion is turning up aswell."

"The champion!" said Pop Roxie in surprise, not realising that Gym inspections were so important that they required such authority.

"Yes. He seemed quite excited about meeting Roxie again." stated the first inspector. Before Pop Roxie could think about that the second inspector sighted something off the starboard bow.

"Look! Off the starboard bow!" said the second inspector quickly. "It's the champion, with his Flygon!" Pop Roxie immediately looked to starboard; sure enough he could just make out the shape of the green Dragon-Type Pokémon with the shape of a human on top of it.

"He's making good time then." said the first inspector as the three men watched the Champion's majestic Desert Spirit in flight.

Nate was inpatient as he leaned on a guard rail and watched the ferry slowly head towards the Virbank Docks. Next to him was his Flygon, relaxing after the long flight it had under taken. Usually he wouldn't care how soon he did something to do with the Unova Pokémon Association; in fact he preferred to drag out the time till he had to do something as long as he could. But in this case it was different. He was excited to see Roxie again, the last time he saw her was over a year and a half ago.

"Fly?" said Nate's Flygon as it bent its head down to look at him, picking up on its trainer's impatience.

"Nothing to worry about Flygon. I'm just impatient to see an old friend." said Nate as the ferry neared the docks.

"Fly, Flygon." said the green dragon as the ferry arrived at the docks.

"You wouldn't have met her Flygon." answered Nate sensing his Pokémon's question. "I hadn't caught you yet." The two then watched as the ship docked and the occupants departed. They were as he expected, two inspectors and one captain. The two inspectors headed towards him while the captain tied the ship up.

"Ready for the inspection?" asked the first inspector, Nate still couldn't remember their names.

"Yeah, but isn't it a bit early." said Nate as he returned the Flygon to its Poke Ball. "The inspection was meant to be tonight."

"True." said the second inspector. "But it is a surprise inspection and as such it doesn't matter when it occurs."

"And the quicker we do it the quicker we can leave." said the first inspector, frowning as he looked around the Virbank Street. Nate could see why the guy wanted to leave this wasn't really the place for him.

"Alright then." said Nate as he began walking in the direction of the Virbank Gym. "Let's go inspect the Gym now."

Roxie was completely oblivious to the Gym doors opening as she strummed away on her bass guitar on the stage. She was in her utopia now, just noise and rhythm. Then she noticed the drumming and guitar sounds disappearing before she felt some tap her on the shoulder, snapping herself out of her happy zoned out state.

"What!" she angrily asked as she turned to see who tapped her, the culprit turning out to be Nicky.

"The inspectors are here." whispered Nicky. "And a friend of yours." Roxie turned round to look at the three figures on the floor of the Gym, two men in suits and….was that Nate? The Gym Leader jumped off the stage and walked over to the three males, guitar still held by her.

"What brings you to my Gym?" asked Roxie, trying to sound like she didn't know they had been coming.

"We're here to inspect the Gym and yourself." said the first inspector. "I'm Rick, the other man in the suit is Nick and the bushy brown haired kid is the champion, Nate."

"Me and Rick will be inspecting the Gym while Nate here, the current champion, asks you some questions." said Nick. "Understand? It's quick and simple. Nothing to worry about."

"Yeah got it." said Roxie, barely taking notice of what they said, she'd been staring at Nate the whole time. He'd changed a lot from when he'd challenged her. Now he was taller than her, just slightly though, more toned and had completely changed his clothes. The champion had ditched his hat, instead letting his explosion of hair flow freely. He'd exchanged his blue jacket for a black version and his white/grey shorts for a black version. Instead of trainers he was wearing combat boots and he was wearing studded fingerless gloves. Despite all this change he still had his white bag, no doubt containing his healing items and various possessions. Rick then passed Nate a notepad and pencil while he walked away to inspect the Gym with Rick.

"Ummm hi again." said Nate somewhat nervously. Roxie merely smirked back; Nate was obviously remembering their last encounter.

"So are you going to get on with it?" said Roxie cockily, trying to hide the blush which she felt on her face. Nate was certainly more attractive than he had been when she'd last seen him.

"So how many wins, loses and draws have you had?" asked Nate somewhat awkwardly.

"Two hundred and ninety three wins." answered Roxie, attempting to remember the records she had looked at earlier in the day. "Twenty loses, one which was you. And no draws." Nate merely scribbled her answers down in the notepad.

"How many badges given out?" asked Nate.

"Twenty one." said Roxie, knowing she was going to have to explain the higher number of badges than wins. "I gave one out because a repeat challenger almost beat me, Grimer had almost fainted. That and he had a cool Skorupi."

"That's ok. Gym Leaders are allowed to give the badges out to whoever they feel like." said Nate as he jotted it down in the notepad, a smirk on his face at her finding the Skorupi cool. "Well I already know the special tactic, making tons of noise to distract the challenger. So were there any notable trainers?" Nate smirking as he asked the question.

"Just you and that kid with the Pikachu." answered Roxie. "Forgot his name."

"Ah Ash Ketchem, he's come up a couple times." said Nate as he wrote down her answer. "Any human injuries within the Gym?"

"No there's been none." said Roxie as she did a fake yawn. "How many boring questions left?"

"Just one." said Nate with a laugh at her and a knowing look. "Do any raves happen in this Gym and is there any alcohol on the Gym property at any time?"

"No and no." said Roxie rather quickly, Nate giving her a knowing smile as he wrote her answer down in the notepad.

"And done." said Nate. "So I'm surprised to see the Gym so clean."

"Don't say that so loud." whispered Roxie quickly. "They'll hear you?"

"Trust me those two won't, they're oblivious to all humans and Pokémon when they're doing an inspection." reassured Nate. He then smirked at her. "Skyla told you we were coming here didn't she?"

"H…how'd you know?" asked Roxie in surprise.

"I kinda let it slip while we were inspecting her Gym." said Nate a bit sheepishly as he ran his hand through his brown hair. "Thought you may like a little forewarning, especially on the alcohol front."

"Thanks." said Roixe, before flashing a sneer at him. "Not that I needed it."

"Of course you didn't." said Nate with a chuckle. He then took a Poke Ball off of his belt and held it up to her. "Remember you mentioned the trainer having a cool Skorupi."

"Yeah." said Roxie, wondering what Nate was getting at.

"Well here's the next step up from that." Nate then threw down the Poke Ball, releasing a giant purple scorpion from inside it.

"Drapion!" declared the Drapion after it was released.

"Cool!" said Roxie, a big smile on her face at seeing the Poison-Type Pokémon.

"Rocking Pokémon." said Nicky as he headed over with Billy Jo in tow.

"Thanks." said Nate as the Drapion gave another roar. "Drapion here's been a big help."

"Anyone inspire you to use a Poison-Type." said Billy Jo with a smirk as Roxie shot a glare at her friend.

"Yeah Roxie did." said Nate in a bit of embarrassment. "I remembered how strong her Garbodor was and I tried to find a Trubbish. But in the end I found a Skorupi who ended up as Drapion here."

"Drap!" roared the Drapion as it looked down on them.

"Hi." said Roxie as she waved at the Pokémon, somewhat nervously due to its hostile attitude. The scorpion merely stared down at her.

"Drapion isn't exactly a people Pokémon." said Nate as he recalled the Poison-Type scorpion.

"I can see." said Billy Jo as she glanced over at the inspectors, who were looking over the bar. "So what's with the change in style?"

"It was Elesa's idea." said Nate. "I went through Nimbassa a few days ago. While there we met up and she suggested that I should change my style since I was the champion now. I just kinda went along with it." He then ran his hand through his hair again, something Roxie noticed he had a habit of doing. "How's it look?"

"Looks good." said Nicky.

"Nice enough." said Billy Jo.

"It's cool." said Roxie. "So how long will you be in Virbank for?" Nate merely shrugged in response.

"No clue." said Nate. "I've kinda not really had any plans after becoming champion. All I've been doing is collecting stuff and exploring. Why?"

"No reason." said Roxie quickly, feeling a light blush come onto her face. Arghh why did Nate make her blush so easily.

"So how long is this inspection going to take?" asked Nicky in an attempt to distract Nate from her blush, which Roxie was thankful for.

"Depends." answered Nate with a smirk on his face. "How much do you think they think there's alcohol here?"

* * *

 **So hopefully you enjoyed that. Sorry the ending sucks, it was just a quick tweak to give it a proper ending. Since originally it just stopped when the inspectors entered the gym.**

 **Anyway good to get this up instead of having it sit on my hardrive. Wouldn't mind writing another Pokemon fanfic sometime, if I can ever get a good idea for one.**

 **Interesting I wrote this though. Was a bit more mature than my usual stuff, what with it's mention of alcohol and raves. Still I think I wrote the "theme" pretty well.**


End file.
